Reed beatup mounting for loom lays



Oct. 3, 1950 mun [III/III C. R. KRONOFF REED BEATUP MOUNTING FOR LOOM LAYS lll Filed April 1, 1949 F F O N m R WK N R E V E NC l-N E R A L C ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 3, 1950 REED BEATUP MOUNTINGFOR LOOM LAYS Clarence R. Kronoff, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 1, 1949, Serial No. 84,900

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in reed mountings for loom lays and it is the general object of the invention to provide simple means by which the reed can be adjusted along the length of the lay.

Loom lays are customarily provided with a beat-up reed the lower rail of which is ordinarily received by a backstay mounted on the lay. The path of the shuttle is determined in part at least by the shape of the reed and it-is an important object of the invention to provide a plurality of adjusting means by which the backstay which receives the lower rail of the reed can be adjusted with respect to the lay beam or shuttle race to give the reed the desired shape.

When the lay beam is made as an extrusion of a light weight metal, such as aluminum or magnesium or an alloy thereof, it is desirable to provide for the adjustment of the backstay in such manner as will not materially weaken the beam. It has been common practice to hold the backstay in position by means of horizontal bolts or screws which extend from the front of the beam through the latter to the backstay. 'When bolts or screws are used in this manner on extruded lay beams there results an undesirable weakening of the frontwall of the lay beam.

In order that the extruded lay beam may retain as much of its original strength as possible it is a further object of the invention to provide securing and adjusting means for the backstay so located as to avoid perforation of the front backstay moving member or ,the like, moved by the eccentric and constructed'in such manner as to permit the required adjustment and then enable the backstay to be clamped to the lay beam.

With these and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides inthe combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of'part of a loom having the invention appl ed thereto, parts of the lay being shown in cross section,

Fig. 2 is similar to a part of Fig. 1, but on an i enlarged scale,

Fig. 3 is a reduced horizontal section on line 33, Fig. 2, showing three of the reed adjusting and holding units,

, Figs. 4 and 5 are detailed enlarged horizontal sections on lines 4-4 and 55, respectively,

Fig.2,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of one of the units and adjacent parts of the backstay look ing in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 2,

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which'the unit is operated to adjust the backstay, and

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which a plurality of the adjusting units can be used to change the shape of a backi stay and reed.

I. designated generally at L, is a hand rail l5 having a downwardly opening slot or channel It to receive the top rail ll of a reed designated at R.

The hand rail may if desired be made as set forth .in prior Patent No. 2,439,688. The lay swords 301' are attached in customary mannerv with the forward ends of the lay connectors one of which is shown at [8 by which the lay is reciprocated in a back and forth direction.

The matter thus far described. is of common construction and of itself forms no part of the present invention.

In carrying the present invention into effect 7 each lay sword is provided with a lay beam support only one of which. is shown in the drawings. Referring particularly to Fig. 2 this support, which may take the form of a bracket 29,

has a vertical plate 2| bolted as at 22 to the lay sword. The bracket has a horizontal shelf 23 to which the lay beam, designated generally at 24, is bolted as at 25.

The beam 24 may be formed as an extrusion of a light weight metal, such as aluminum or magnesium or an alloy of one or the other of these metals, and has front and back vertical walls 30 and 3|, respectively, connected at their lower ends to a bottom plate 32 which is formed with an extension 33 projecting rearwardly of the back wall 3| and running lengthwise of the beam. The vertical walls, bottom and extension are all integral andtogether form the lay'beam, Ex-

3 tending across the tops of the front and back Walls is a race plate secured thereto by screws 36. This race plate extends across the lay and provides support for the shuttle S when the latter is in flight.

The backstay, designated generally at B, extends along the lay beam behind the back wall 3| and has a bottom plate which rests on the extension 33. Extending upwardly from the bottom plate 40 are front and back walls 4| and 42, respectively, which may be flared or inclined downwardly toward each other to define a pocket or slot 43 for the bottom rail 44 of the reed R. When the invention is applied to looms for weaving artificial yarns or the like a back wall may be formed as at 45 to receive a glass rod 46 which extends across the loom and is positioned for engagement with the threads of the lower Warp shed W, see Fig. 1.

As already stated, it is desirable to be able to adjust the backstay along its length in a back and forth direction to provide proper guidance for the shuttle. Shuttle boxes generally have their inner ends set slightly behind their outer ends so that at the instant of delivery from a shuttle box the shuttle will be directed in a path which is rearward relatively to the lay. The reason for picking the shuttle along such a path is to cause it to remain against, or hug, the reed. With the shuttle boxes set as described it is necessary to curve the reed rearwardly so that the shuttle will slide along it smoothly when leaving the shuttle box. The curvature is very slight, and a rearward displacement of the longitudinal center of the reed by a small fraction of an inch will suffice to cause the shuttle to run true. It is to be understood that the curve shown in Fig. 8 is greatly exaggerated, since, if drawn to true scale, the curve would not be perceptible.

In order that the reed may be bent or curved the desired amount the invention contemplates the use of a plurality of adjusting units three of which are shown in Figs. 3 and 8 at 50, 5| and 52. These units are all alike and a detailed description will be given of but one of them.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, the extension 33 is provided with a Vertical circular hole in which is located an eccentric 56 having a forwardly extending arm or hand hold 51. Extending vertically through the eccentric is a bolt 60 having a head 6! which is located in the slot .3. The shank 52 of the bolt passes down through a hole 63 in the bottom of the backstay through the eccentric and has a clamping nut 64 on the lower end below the eccentric. As shown in Fig. 6 the head (if over hangs an upwardly facing horizontal surface 65 on the backstay at the bottom of slot 43.

When applying the backstay to the lay beam the bolts 66 will be inserted downwardly through the holes 55 and through the corresponding eccentrics. The clamping nuts 6% will then be threaded loosely on the bolts, after which the arms 51 of the eccentrics will be moved to give the desired shape to the backstay and the bottom rail 34 of the reed R. The nuts 64 will then be tightened, the efiect of which is to cause the head 6| to exert a downward force on the surface 65 to clamp the backstay at the top of the extension 33, and clamp the eccentric up against the bottom surface of the extension. This single nut 64 clamps the holding and adjusting unit and adjacent parts of the backstay in position on the extension. 1

Fig. 8 illustrates how. the invention ca be utilized to alter the shape of the backstay and reed. It is to be understood that the backstay and bottom rail of the reed are deflectable or subject to slight bending when acted upon by lateral forces. In Fig. 8 where one example of reed adjustment is shown on a greatly exaggerated scale, the end units 50 and 52 are so placed that their bolt heads 6| locate the associated parts of the backstay in a relatively forward position, but the cen ter unit 5| has had its arm 5'! moved in such manner as to cause its head 6| to move rearwardly to deflect the backstay and reed to produce a curve in the latter. While only three of the units are show in Figures 3 and 8 it is to be understood that the invention can if desired utilize a larger number of the units, depending upon the width of the loom. The arms 5'5 extend under the plate 32 of the lay beam and are effectively clamped by the nuts 64. The backstay is preferably made of the same material as that of which the lay beam is made, and can be extruded as the beam is. The cross section of the backstay is such as to give it ample stiffness to hold the reed properly, but because of its length, which will be several feet, it can be deflected as described.

Fig. 7 shows a range of adjustment which will be suitable for many types of looms, but it will be apparent that the arms 51 can assume positions other than those shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. '7 if it is desired to have a greater deflection of the backstay.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention sets forth simple means by which the backstay and reed can be adjusted in a back and forth direction with respect to the lay beam and shuttle race by units arranged along the lay beam so constructed as not materially to weaken or reduce the original strength of the lay beam when the latter is made as an extrusion. Each holding and adjusting unit includes an eccentric which performs the function of a positioner and includes also a moving member, such as the bolt and its head (ii, to cause movement of the backstay responsive to adjustments of the eccentric. Both of these parts are held in'adjusted position by nut 64 which cooperates with head (ii to form clamping means for the backstay.

Having thus described the invention it will be seen that changes and modifications of the foregoing specific disclosure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a loom lay, a metallic lay beam having spaced vertical front and back walls integral with a bottom plate having an extension rearward of the back wall, a race plate secured to the top of said walls, a reed behind the race plate having a rail at the bottom thereof behind the back wall, a backstay for said rail on said extension, a pluralit of backstay moving members spaced along the length of the lay beam each movable toward and from said back wall with the adjacent part of the backstay, and an eccentric posi tioner for each member rotatable in said extens'ion to change the position of the associated member and corresponding part of the backstay relatively to the race plate.

2. In a loom lay, a metallic lay beam having spaced vertical front and back walls and an extension rearward of the back wall, a race plate secured to the tops of said walls, a reed behind the race plate having a rail at the bottom thereof behind the back wall, a backstay for said rail on the extension, a plurality of combined backstay holding and adjusting units arranged along the length of the lay, each unit including a vertical member having a head engaging an adjacent'part of the backetay and movable with said part in a direction toward and from the race plate, the member having a shank passing through the extension, and each unit having an eccentric rotatable on the extension and through which the shank of the associatedmember extends, each eccentric when turned relatively to the extension varying the position of the associated member and part of the backsta with respect to the race plate, and means for each unit clamping the latter to the lay beam.

3. In a 10cm lay having a shuttle race plate on a lay beam having an extension rearward of the race plate,'a reed'having a bottom rail, a backetay for the'rail on said extension, and a plurality of combined holding and adjusting units for the backstay arranged along the lay.

beam, each unit comprising a member movable with the adiacent part of the backstay in a direction toward and from the race plate and an eccentric rotatable in part of the beam to move the member and corresponding part of the backstay relatively to the race plate, and means for each unit clamping the associated eccentric to the lay beam.

4. In a loom lay having a shuttle race plate on a lay beam having an extension rearward of the race plate, a reed having a bottom rail, a backstay for the rail on said extension, and a plurality of combined holding and adjusting units for the backsta arranged along the lay beam, each unit including a bolt extending vertically through said extension and backstay and having a head engaging the backstay and effective when moved toward or from the race plate to move the adjacent part of the back-stay toward or from the race plate, each unit including an eccentric rotatable in said extension operative when turned to move the bolt either toward or from the race plate, dependingupon the direction of turning of the eccentric, and clamp means on the bolt belowthe eccentric cooperating with said head to clamp the backstay and eccentric against said extension.

5. In a 100m lay having a shuttle race plate on a lay beam having an extension rearward of the race plate, a reed having a bottom rail, a backstay for the rail on said extension, and a plurality of spaced holding and adjusting units arranged along said extension, each unit having cooperating relatively movable adjusting parts one of which engages the backsta and the other of which engages said extension, said parts of each unit movable relatively to each other independently of the parts of the other units and when moved relatively to each other causing movement of the adjacent part of thebackstay relatively to said race plate, and each unit having a clamping part effective when tightened to clamp said adjusting parts to said extension.

5. In a loom la having a lay beam carrying a shuttle race plate and a reed provided with a defiectable bottom rail, a defleotable backstay on the beam for said bottom rail, and a plurality of spaced holding and adjusting units for the backstay arranged along the beam to deflect the backstay and reed relatively to said shuttle race, each unit having two cooperating relatively movable adjusting parts one of which engages the backstay and one of which is an eccentric engaging the beam, the parts of each unit when moved relatively to each other effecting movement or the adjacent part of the backstay in a direction toward or from the race plate, depend ing upon the direction of said relative motion, each unit having a clamping part efiective when tightened t clamp said adjusting parts to the beam.

7. In a loom lay having a lay beam carrying a shuttle race plate and a reed provided with a defiectable bottom rail, a deflectable ba-ckstay for said rail, and an adjusting and holding'unit having two cooperating parts one of which is an eccentric rotatable on the lay beam and the ther of which is moved relatively to the race plate when the eccentric is rotated and when so moved effects movement or" 'the adjacent part of the backstay relatively to the race plate, and means causing said unit to clamp the adjacent part of the backstay to the beam.

CLARENCE R. KRONOFF.

CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

